Hours after college student Laken Riley, 22, was found dead with a crushed skull on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, investigators released an image of two men they believed may be involved.
The two were arrested shortly after.
They are both brothers, they are both Venezuelans, and they entered the country illegally over the border.
The two are already in jail: one for Riley's murder, the other for carrying a false
green
card .
In addition, at least one of them is a member of a dangerous Venezuelan criminal group, the Tren de Aragua, according to Michael Morrison, federal prosecutor for the Middle District of Georgia, in a court document to which Noticias Telemundo had access.
A Georgia police officer detected Ibarra's alleged fake green card due to its "poor quality." US Department of Justice.
The nursing student was found beaten to death after going for a run on a path on the Athens campus on February 22.
The two brothers were arrested the next day and remain in prison.
José Ibarra is accused of the murder.
His brother Diego, who has not been linked to the crime, is also still behind bars for carrying a false
green card
(an obviously minor crime for which in theory he could have already been released by paying bail) because the prosecutor of the Department of Justice insisted before the court on his dangerousness, citing his alleged membership of the Aragua Train.
His brother José has so far not been linked to this Venezuelan criminal gang.
José Ibarra.Clark County Georgia Sheriff's Office.
In his motion to justify it, the prosecutor explains that members of the Tren de Aragua "frequently have tattoos to express their affiliation with the gang," and refers to drawings of crowns and five-pointed stars.
According to him, some of the information Diego Ibarra has "suggests that he is a member" of the criminal group.
He adds two details detected on his social networks by agents from the Homeland Security Investigations Office (HSI) also allegedly linked to the gang: a three-finger sign, reflected in an image on his Instagram profile;
and the use of clothing from the Chicago Bulls NBA basketball team.
Furthermore, the agents allege that, while in the United States, the detainee appeared in images with firearms (the possession of which is prohibited to people who do not have an immigration status).
HSI agents linked these tattoos of Diego Ibarra with those characteristic of the members of the Aragua Train. US Department of Justice.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, this is a sign with which the members of the Aragua Train publicly identify themselves. US Department of Justice.
A federal prosecutor in Georgia links these Chicago Bulls outfits to those who make up the Tren de Aragua. US Department of Justice.
Agents found photos of weapons on Ibarra's Instagram account, suspected of belonging to the Aragua Train. US Department of Justice.
A long police record in a short time
Diego Ibarra has only been in the United States for 11 months but has already accumulated at least eight interactions with local and federal security agencies in the country, according to what the Prosecutor's Office told Judge Charles Weigle, who presides over the Federal Court of the Middle District of Georgia.
Ibarra illegally crossed the border through Eagle Pass (Texas) on April 3, 2023 and was detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents and returned to Mexico.
At that time, Title 42 was still in force, the health regulation approved by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and which was canceled by the president, Joe Biden, on May 11, 2023 when the emergency subsided. .
Ibarra crossed again illegally on April 30 through the same area;
When two Border Patrol agents approached him, he resisted arrest and tried to bite one of them. The struggle lasted about four minutes and the Texas National Guard had to intervene.
Ibarra was taken into custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE).
Instead of remaining detained until his deportation, he was released under the Detention Alternatives program, implemented due to the limited capacity of ICE centers.
He was put on an electronic shackle, but in May he cut it off and became a fugitive.
In September he was arrested in Athens for driving under the influence, speeding and driving without a license.
He also struggled with the agent.
He was released with a court date, but did not appear.
Two days later he was reported by his girlfriend to agents from the Clark County Sheriff's Office in Georgia for domestic violence.
In October and December 2023, he was arrested for stealing merchandise from a Walmart store in Athens.
In the first incident he was accompanied by his brother Joseph.
Stolen items were found on both of them.
Despite this, he was released again.
Cases of the Aragua Train are growing in the US.
Ibarra is at least the fourth criminal case where federal and local agencies link suspects to the gang, present in several Latin American countries.
These incidents in Chicago (Illinois), Miami (Florida), New York, and now in Athens — a small university city north of Atlanta — seem to indicate an increasingly widespread presence of the band in the United States as well.
The CBP indicated to Noticias Telemundo that in the last fiscal year 41 members were captured trying to illegally cross the border.
And, in the motion to request that Diego Ibarra be kept under arrest, the Prosecutor's Office said that "several security agencies have reported a strong presence of the Aragua Train in several states."